Install Android 4.3 OTA On Google Play Edition Galaxy S4 & HTC One

So you got yourself a Google Play edition Samsung Galaxy S4 or HTC One, thinking it’ll be just as good as a Nexus device but went all long-faced with disappointment when Android 4.3 was made available for Nexus devices before yours? Fret not; you did have to wait for a few days, but the latest version of Android has finally started to roll out for both these Google Play edition devices. If you can’t wait for the official update to hit yours (which may take anywhere between a few minutes to a few weeks depending on your location), we’ve got you covered as usual. In what follows, we will guide you through the process of manually updating your Google Play edition Galaxy S4 or HTC One to Android 4.3 Jelly Bean using the recovery-flashable zip file of the official OTA update.

Disclaimer: Follow this guide at your own risk. AddictiveTips will not be responsible if your device gets damaged or bricked in the process.

Requirements

Google Play edition Samsung Galaxy S4 or HTC One running the completely stock official Google Play edition firmware

Stock recovery will be fine, but a custom recovery such as TWRP or ClockworkMod should also do.

Procedure

Download the appropriate OTA zip file for your device from the link above and transfer it to your device, making sure not to put it inside any sub-folder.

Reboot your device into recovery by powering it off and then:

For Galaxy S4, pressing and holding Volume Up, Home and Power buttons.

For HTC One, pressing and holding Volume Down and power buttons, then using the Volume Down button to select the recovery option and pressing Power once again.

If you are on the stock recovery, you will see the Android robot with a red triangle. Press Volume Up followed by power, or Volume Up and Power together to get the recovery options. This may take a few attempts; simply keep retrying using the aforementioned key combinations till you see the stock recovery menu.

Now that you are in recovery, it’s time to flash the update. For stock recovery, choose Apply from phone storage, select the update’s zip file and press the Power key. If you are using a custom recovery, use its own method for installing/flashing a zip file.

Wiping cache (and dalvik cache too, if on a custom recovery) at this stage will be a good idea. Don’t worry, your data will remain safe.

Now just reboot your phone using the appropriate option in your recovery.

Your Galaxy S4 or HTC One should now boot into Android 4.3. Solutions to commonly-occurring issues as well as more information and support can be found at the XDA forum threads for Galaxy S4 and HTC One.

Next Post

While this is intended for the Play edition, I suppose installing the Play edition firmware on a non-Play edition phone should practically make it identical to the Play edition one, provided they are identical in terms of hardware as well.

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